Hongfu Garden Hearing | Property Management Representative: ICU notified Hongyi to conduct on-site inspections one week earlier

Tai Po Hung Fuk Court fire: Independent Commission holds 7th hearing today. According to the timetable, 7 witnesses will give testimony, including Lo Qianying, an office clerk of Cheung Pong Xingye Company Limited; Zhong Ruixia, a caretaker; Li Chengfu, a carpenter; Luo Guori, an electrician; Huang Baisheng, a senior manager; Lin Wenxin, an engineering officer; and Zheng Zhiying, a property manager.

“Next week, they’re coming to the estate to take a look at the ICU staff”

Earlier, the hearing mentioned that the Housing Bureau’s Independent Checking Unit (ICU) had notified the consultant Hongyi one day in advance to inspect the scaffolding net at Hung Fuk Court. Lo Qianying said that the ICU tried to notify Hongyi in advance a week earlier, stating that management office staff testified that Hongyi staff had mentioned several times at engineering meetings: “We’ve arranged for Amanda (ICU staff member Lau Ka-mang) to come to the estate next week to take a look.”

During the hearing, email records were shown, indicating that “Amanda Lau” last May 29 sent an email to Hongyi and Cheung Pong, saying that the ICU would go to Hung Fuk Court at 10:30 a.m. on June 3, one week later.

She also said that usually, when they received ICU-related emails, they would only pay attention to the subject line and would not read the content in detail, and would pass it to the management office to handle; she added that this “had happened a few times,” but the management office had no records of how many times the ICU had come.

Emphasizing they didn’t just abandon people—staff didn’t ignore everyone because of the fire

At yesterday’s 6th hearing, regarding an arrangement in which the engineering department of Cheung Pong Xingye assisted Hungye to drain water from a fire-fighting water tank, there were discrepancies in the testimonies given by Lo Qianying and another colleague. Lo Qianying pointed out that because some time had already passed, her memory might be confused. She hoped the public would not, before her colleague gave testimony, conclude that either party wanted to shift responsibility, or assume that they were the ones who caused the fire, emphasizing that she was not trying to shift responsibility and was defending herself.

A resident questioned that management office staff lost contact after the fire occurred. Lo Qianying broke down in tears while testifying, reiterating that on the day, they used loudspeakers to remind residents to leave, continuously answered residents’ phone calls, and the security guard also took the initiative to run up to the floors to knock on doors. When staff left the management office, they also took two sets of owners’ contact books and handed them to the police, emphasizing that “they didn’t ignore everyone because of the fire.”

Lu Kai-hang worries about being “outed” for public scrutiny, calls for objective analysis of the incident

The chairperson of the commission, Lu Kai-hang, said they were worried about “outing” people for public trial and did not want people to live-stream the proceedings online. He called on the media and the public to objectively analyze the incident, adding that during the interviews, walking a few streets had created considerable pressure on anyone attending the hearings.